Method and system for storing, categorizing and distributing information concerning relationships between data

1. A method of storing, categorizing and distributing information concerning relationships between data stored on electronic devices, comprising: identifying data in need of categorization regardless of location anywhere on a network of devices; indicating at least a portion of a desired tag for the data in question; transmitting a query to a plurality of network servers, possibly including but not limited to a server operating on the same device originating the query, containing the desired at least partial string in order to determine unique identifiers, if any, for matching and similar tags; suggesting any related tags according to existing direct tag-to-tag relationships between tags already defined on each queried server; filtering the resulting list of tags on the any number of servers according to privacy rules; transmitting the filtered result lists back to the client device; aggregating the filtered result lists on the client device; choosing the proper unique tag identifiers from the aggregate result list; choosing additional tags suggested by the client device based upon the any number of servers' response, as appropriate; and storing the tag choices for future use.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each tag has respective independent permission settings specifying which individuals or groups may apply the respective tag to data, specifying which individuals or groups may view application to data of the respective tag, and specifying which individuals or groups may view data to which the respective tag has been applied.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein certain system-defined tags identify their associated data to an operating system as crucial.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein tags are assigned passwords to control the ability to change access rights, and access rights can be inherited from parent tags.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein privacy rules alter the visual appearance of a tag.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein files with identical names, including null names, are distinguishable by their respective independent tag associations, wherein such files reside in the same hierarchical division of a filesystem.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein tags are associated with other tags in specific manners selected from the group consisting of equal, roughly equivalent, subset, superset, and null, to form ontologies and hierarchies editable by a multitude of individuals subject to privacy rules associated with each tag through the use of a network.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein tags of the same user-defined hierarchical level function as a column headings in a table such that data entered on a row-by-row basis is stored on a server as key-value pairs, with each key corresponding to a tag's given unique identifier.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a tag is assigned a reversible property requiring that associated data not be simultaneously tagged with any other tag.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of individuals who, without having initially tagged a given piece of data, approve or disapprove of the accuracy of a tag's relationship to a givcnthat same piece of data is recorded by a tally of votes independent of the frequency of the tag's usage, optionally displayed alongside the tag.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein tag-data relationships with negative vote tallies are automatically dissociated from the underlying data.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein tag-data relationships with negative vote tallies have an appearance altered for the purpose of avoiding notice.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein tag-data relationships with positive vote tallies have an appearance altered for the purpose of encouraging notice.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein arithmetic operations are automatically performed upon numeric data sharing a common tag.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a proper subset of a digital representation of any space is designated as being related to at least one system-defined tag corresponding to a computer software application, such that multiple software applications can be used to edit proper subsets of a document.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifiers are hidden from the end user such that they are automatically associated with specific tags.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client device determines a hash value of data on the client device such that it may be compared with the last known hash value of the corresponding data on a remote server, and upon detecting a difference, segments the data into chunks of a specified length.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the hash of each chunk of data is used to determine which parts of a file have changed, such that only those portions of the file are selectively synchronized with a remote server.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein a device automatically applies as tags all of those node names comprising the path of an end node in a hierarchical data structure, optionally excluding the root node.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein any server can offer as a service a configurable Application Programming Interface (API) that allows its list of tags to be referenced in software applications, mobile applications, web sites or other such electronic products exogenous to that server.

21. A method for automatically tagging data based upon the contents thereof and the origin of such data, comprising: downloading a file from a remote server; analyzing the origin of the file based upon criteria including, but not limited to, the domain name of the remote server; querying a relational database for information about the given domain name; selecting tags corresponding to the resulting information concerning the given domain name; selecting tags based upon the contents of the file; if necessary, automatically transmitting the file to a device supporting tag-based storage; suggesting the selected tags to a user; and storing the tags deemed appropriate by the user for future use.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the information concerning the domain name used to select tags relates to the domain name's owner.

23. A system for storing, categorizing and distributing information concerning relationships between data, comprising: a plurality of network servers, wherein each network server stores at least one list of tags, wherein each tag is associated with a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the tag; one or more client devices, each connected to the plurality of network servers; wherein each client device is configured to: transmit a query string to the plurality of network servers in order to determine unique identifiers, if any, for matching and similar tags; wherein each network server is configured to: suggest related tags according to existing direct tag-to-tag relationships between tags already defined on the network server; filter the resulting list of tags according to privacy rules; and transmit the filtered result list back to the client device; wherein the client device aggregates the filtered result lists from the plurality of network servers; wherein each client device is further configured to: choose the proper unique tag identifiers from the aggregate result list; choose additional tags suggested the client device based upon the plurality of servers' responses; and store the tag choices for future use.